Kenneth Neate

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist  | name = Kenneth Neate | image = Ken Neate, 1952 - collezione Tino Barindelli.tif | alt = Black and white photographs of a young man standing in theatrical costume | caption = Ken Neate (photo with 1952 dedication) | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = | alias = | birth_place = | birth_date = 28 July 1914 | death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|06|27|1914|07|28|df=yes}} |death_place =Munich, Germany | origin = Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia | instrument = | genre = Wagnerian opera | occupation = tenor singer, opera producer, teacher | years_active = 1938–1975 | label = | associated_acts = | website = }}

'''Kenneth (Ken) Neate''' (28 July 1914 – 27 June 1997) was an Australian operatic and concert tenor, opera producer and singing teacher, composer and author. He appeared at the Bayreuth Festival in 1963 as Loge in ''Das Rheingold'' and was noted as a dramatic tenor in German, French, and Italian repertoire in opera houses in England, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Australia.<ref name=Brownlee>{{cite web|url=http://www.operafolks.com/Cooke/brownleetribute.html|last=Cooke|first=Martin|title=John Brownlee - baritone|publisher=Operafolks.com|accessdate=16 April 2009}}</ref> His operatic career lasted 38 years, followed by ten years as lecturer in Voice and Opera Studies at the Richard Strauss Conservatorium in Munich.<ref name=Brownlee/>

==Biography== Ken Neate was born in Cessnock, New South Wales on 28 July 1914.<ref name=Cooke>{{cite web|url=http://www.operafolks.com/Cooke/valeken.html|title=Vale - Ken Neate|last=Cooke|first=Martin|publisher=Operafolks.com|accessdate=16 April 2009}}</ref> He studied piano and voice in Newcastle and had further study in Sydney with Lute Drummond and Lionello Cecil. Neate joined the New South Wales Police Force, serving in inner-city stations in Sydney. He became a soloist in the NSW Police Choir and soon became known as "The Singing Policeman".<ref name=Brownlee/><ref name=Cooke/><ref name=police>{{cite web|url=http://www.policensw.com/info/band/policechoir1.html|title=NSW Police Choir|publisher=Unofficial NSW Police Site: The Thin Blue Line - Australia|accessdate=16 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401184433/http://www.policensw.com/info/band/policechoir1.html|archive-date=1 April 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Independent>{{cite news |last1=Forbes |first1=Elizabeth |title=Obituary: Kenneth Neate |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-kenneth-neate-1248397.html |accessdate=8 August 2020 |work=The Independent |date=1 July 1997}} NOTE: This obituary erroneously refers to Charles Kullman as Chester Kallman.</ref>

He sang his first operatic roles as Pinkerton in ''Madama Butterfly'' in Brisbane in 1937 and the title role in a concert performance of ''Lohengrin'' with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Joseph Post.<ref name=Cooke/>

After hearing Neate sing in 1939, John Brownlee introduced him to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and recommended he study with his own teacher, Emilio de Gogorza,<ref name=Brownlee/> and with Elisabeth Schumann.<ref name=Independent/> In 1941, he toured New Zealand with Oscar Natzka.<ref name=Cooke/> That year, he studied roles such as Don José (''Carmen'') with Brownlee, and ''Lohengrin'' with Lotte Lehmann. He auditioned for Bruno Walter, which led to his becoming understudy to Charles Kullman<ref name=Independent/> for ''The Magic Flute'' at the Met.<ref name=Brownlee/> In 1941, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, becoming a pilot officer. He had already appeared in opera and concert under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.<ref name=Cooke/>

After the war, he appeared as Don José in ''Carmen'' at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1947 in the very first performance by the Covent Garden Opera Company (later to become the Royal Opera); that season, he also appeared as Tamino in ''The Magic Flute'', and as the Italian Singer in ''Der Rosenkavalier''.<ref name=Independent/> That year he sang the title role in Gounod's ''Faust'' for the first time (he was to sing the role over 80 times until 1965, in Europe, the UK and Australia). In 1948 he sang Alfredo in ''La traviata'' opposite Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.<ref name=Cooke/>

In 1950 and 1951, Ken Neate sang the roles of Rodolfo (''La bohème''), Cavaradossi (''Tosca''), and Pinkerton (''Madama Butterfly'') in productions televised by the BBC.<ref name=Cooke/> He often appeared with his fellow Australian Rosina Raisbeck at Covent Garden.<ref name=Cooke/>

He made the first of five tours to Australia in 1952. He returned in 1955 (when he appeared with an Italian touring company alongside Gabriella Tucci and the up-and-coming Donald Smith<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mca.org.au/web/content/view/187/6|title=''Australia's Operatic Phoenix: From World War II to War and Peace'' review|last=Cowley|first=Rowena|publisher=Music Council of Australia|accessdate=16 April 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723025533/http://www.mca.org.au/web/content/view/187/6|archivedate=23 July 2008}}</ref>), 1960, 1968 and 1970 (that year as Florestan in ''Fidelio''<ref name=Independent/>).<ref name=Brownlee/>

In May 1956 at Bordeaux, Neate created the title role in Henri Tomasi's ''Sampiero Corso'', which was repeated at the Holland Festival in June.<ref name=Independent/> That year, Neate sang in the first television recordings for Italian Radio and Television of ''La fanciulla del West'', ''Turandot'' and Alfredo Catalani's ''Loreley''.<ref name=Cooke/>

Neate's lyric tenor had developed into a heldentenor by the end of the 1950s. He sang ''Tannhäuser'' over 160 times in German. In Germany he met and married the German mezzo-soprano Gertrud Vollath.<ref name=Cooke/> He also sang Stolzing in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' (Vienna State Opera and Zurich Opera), Eric, Lohengrin and Siegmund (''Die Walküre''). At the Bayreuth Festival of 1963 he sang the role of Loge in ''Das Rheingold'', at the invitation of Wolfgang Wagner and Rudolf Kempe, becoming the first Australian to sing a major role at Bayreuth.<ref name=Cooke/> He studied heldentenor roles with Max Lorenz.<ref name=mills>{{cite web|url=http://www.wagner-nsw.org.au/reviews/mills.html|title=A Synopsis from the Biography: 'Not Always the Understudy'|last=Mills|first=Kevin|publisher=Wagner Society in NSW Inc|date=16 May 2005|accessdate=16 April 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121223741/http://www.wagner-nsw.org.au/reviews/mills.html|archivedate=21 November 2008}}</ref>

In Italy in the mid-1950s, he had a major career in the houses of San Carlo (Naples), La Fenice (Venice), Parma and Bologna, in roles such as Faust, Calaf (''Turandot'') and Don Carlo, and appearing with such major names as Tullio Serafin, Carlo Tagliabue, Cesare Siepi, Ettore Bastianini, Gigliola Frazzoni, Antonietta Stella and Ebe Stignani.<ref name=Cooke/>

In 1956 he released his first solo LP ''Una Serata Dell'Opera'' with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris under Napoleone Annovazzi (now available on CD).

The 1959 Franco Zeffirelli production of ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' at Covent Garden is famous for Joan Sutherland's breakthrough performance in the title role. The tenor role of Edgardo in that production was sung by Ken Neate, who replaced the scheduled tenor at short notice.<ref name=Cooke/>

On 26 October 1961, Neate created the role of Danforth in the world premiere of Robert Ward's ''The Crucible'' at the New York City Opera.<ref name=Cooke/> That year he also sang there as Radames in ''Aida'', Don José, and Stravinsky's ''Oedipus rex''.<ref name=Independent/>

In 1957 he became a principal tenor at the Paris Opera.<ref name=police/> In Paris and other centres in France, he sang Arnold (''Guillaume Tell'') at the Opéra Comique in 1954, Roméo (''Roméo et Juliette'') and Hoffmann (''Les Contes d'Hoffmann''). In Paris, he studied with Lucien Muratore, who presented Ken with several of his own costumes including that of Don José and his swords and daggers.<ref name=Cooke/>

In 1966 and 1967 he appeared opposite Birgit Nilsson in a new production of ''Tristan und Isolde'' at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, and at Expo 67 in Montreal. The role of Brangäne was sung by Kerstin Meyer.<ref name=Independent/>

Ken Neate also sang the Richard Strauss roles of Aegisth, Bacchus and Apollo.<ref name=Cooke/> However, his repertoire was not confined to opera. He sang in such works as Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mahler's ''Symphony of a Thousand'' and ''Das Lied von der Erde'', Schoenberg's ''Gurre-Lieder'', Handel oratorios, Dvořák's ''Stabat Mater'', and the Requiems of Mozart, Verdi and Berlioz (''Grande Messe des morts''), under such conductors as Sir Thomas Beecham, Antal Doráti, Eduard van Beinum, Jascha Horenstein, Josef Krips, Rudolf Kempe, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Carlo Maria Giulini.<ref name=Cooke/>

On his return to Australia to sing ''Tannhäuser'' in 1968, his voice was showing signs of degeneration.<ref name=mills/> His last performance in opera was in the title role of Verdi's ''Otello'' at Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck in 1975.<ref name=Cooke/> Although he was then aged 61, his interpretation of Otello was highly praised, both vocally and dramatically.<ref name=Independent/>

Neate also produced operas in Ireland and Austria, such as ''Il trovatore'', ''Don Carlo'', ''Tosca'', ''Samson and Delilah'', ''Tannhäuser'' and ''Fidelio''.<ref name=Brownlee/> He also wrote some songs (''Homeward calling''; ''I am off to Kambalda'').<ref name=NLA>{{cite web|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Author/Home?author=Neate,%20Ken|title=Library items by Ken Neate|publisher=National Library of Australia (NLA) catalogue|accessdate=16 April 2009}}</ref>

Ken Neate died in Munich, Germany on 27 June 1997.<ref name=Cooke/> His book ''Great singing: Common Sense in Singing'' was completed at his death, and was published in 2001 by his widow.<ref name=Cooke/><ref name=NLA/>

His maternal cousin was the tenor Jon Weaving.{{fact|date=February 2020}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neate, Kenneth}} Category:1914 births Category:1997 deaths Category:Australian operatic tenors Category:Heldentenors Category:People from Cessnock, New South Wales Category:20th-century Australian male opera singers Category:Singers from New South Wales Category:Australian expatriates in Germany Category:Expatriates in West Germany